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The Week Ahead

Week Ahead: Bailey's Encore

This past week in Cincinnati, Homer Bailey hurled a no-hitter against the Giants. Remarkably, it was his second time accomplishing the heralded feat in eight months, as he last fired a no-no at Pittsburgh in late September last year.

Even beyond the two historic gems, the late-blooming Bailey has shown plenty of signs over the past two years to indicate that he's on his way to becoming a top-tier pitcher in the majors. After putting up a 4.89 ERA over 436 MLB innings from 2007 to 2011, Bailey has not missed a start since the beginning of the 2012 campaign and has registered a 3.64 ERA and 1.18 WHIP during that span.

He entered this season with a career 7.1 K/9 rate but is now averaging a strikeout per inning, thanks in large part to a jump in fastball velocity (he was hitting 97 in the late innings against the Giants). The right-hander's 2.67 FIP suggest that he's significantly outperforming his solid 3.57 ERA.

Bailey will follow up his no-no with a pair of starts on the road this week. Needless to say, he's a highly recommended option.

* Ian Kennedy, whose last six starts have all come on the road, returns to Arizona for two starts. His ERA at home is nearly a full run lower than on the road.

* Max Scherzer will look to add to his winning streak and improve his record to 15-0, but he'll need to get through a couple tough match-ups (at Cleveland and home against Texas) to do so.

* Wei-Yen Chen is scheduled to return for the Orioles on Tuesday after missing nearly two months with an oblique injury. His numbers before landing on the DL were very good (3.04 ERA, 1.20 WHIP) but I always advise caution with guys coming back from long layoffs and he's facing a couple strong lineups.

* The Tigers and Phillies are both scheduled to face lefties in five of their seven games.

This past week in Cincinnati, Homer Bailey hurled a no-hitter against the Giants. Remarkably, it was his second time accomplishing the heralded feat in eight months, as he last fired a no-no at Pittsburgh in late September last year.

Even beyond the two historic gems, the late-blooming Bailey has shown plenty of signs over the past two years to indicate that he's on his way to becoming a top-tier pitcher in the majors. After putting up a 4.89 ERA over 436 MLB innings from 2007 to 2011, Bailey has not missed a start since the beginning of the 2012 campaign and has registered a 3.64 ERA and 1.18 WHIP during that span.

He entered this season with a career 7.1 K/9 rate but is now averaging a strikeout per inning, thanks in large part to a jump in fastball velocity (he was hitting 97 in the late innings against the Giants). The right-hander's 2.67 FIP suggest that he's significantly outperforming his solid 3.57 ERA.

Bailey will follow up his no-no with a pair of starts on the road this week. Needless to say, he's a highly recommended option.

* Ian Kennedy, whose last six starts have all come on the road, returns to Arizona for two starts. His ERA at home is nearly a full run lower than on the road.

* Max Scherzer will look to add to his winning streak and improve his record to 15-0, but he'll need to get through a couple tough match-ups (at Cleveland and home against Texas) to do so.

* Wei-Yen Chen is scheduled to return for the Orioles on Tuesday after missing nearly two months with an oblique injury. His numbers before landing on the DL were very good (3.04 ERA, 1.20 WHIP) but I always advise caution with guys coming back from long layoffs and he's facing a couple strong lineups.

* The Tigers and Phillies are both scheduled to face lefties in five of their seven games.